This text was read by OCR from a scanned newsletter and has not been proofread yet, so expect odd characters and mistakes.
(SOUTH SADDLE - ORONGORONGO - CATCHPOOL)
The start of the first day of the big adventure dawned, like any other day, in the early moming. Nine eager trampers (no, not punters) excitedly gathered at Platform 9. The air was electric, the excitement extreme. 7.50am arrived and left with no sign of our intrepid leader, Susan Walsh. This was soon rectified as she trotted around the corner No sooner had Susan arrived but the MV Duchess did too. Captained by Geoff and piloted by Austin, we set off bound for shores unknown. (Note to readers: MV stands for Motor Vehicle not motor vessel).
As the trip north progressed, it soon became evident that Geoff had a far better idea where we were going than we had. By the time the Duchess had strained her way over the Rimutaka Hill Road and our stomachs had settled, thanks to the bumpy ride, the realisation occurred that today's walk was probably not going to be as cruisey as at first thought. After a quick stop to drop off the Mediums near a rather small herd of cows in. blue raincoats, we joumeyed further south, onwards to Ocean Beach. I ft was around 10.30am when the Easy's hit the beach. With packs stuffed to the hilt with food, pillows, radio equipment and other luxuries, and armed with Austin's encouraging words: ‘You've got a long walk today" (chuckle, chuckle), and Geoff's "No Bruce, you're not coming back with the truck", the Easy's set off.
We followed the coast for at least an hour. Occasional stops were made to survey the hills rising steeply on one side and the sea far below us to our left. Imagine the scene of a tropical island bathed in sun, the sea lapping up on the beach and the palm trees swooshing in the breeze. It was nothing like this.
‘Around 12 noon we arrived at a stream complete with picturesque watertall, a few bashtul sheep and a wide valley gently winding its way toward lunch somewhere in the distance. Wayne, who claimed to have been here before, checked his map. Sue checked her map and everyone else checked Sue's map. Yes. This was the Mukamuka Stream. After a bit of a rest we set off.
The following minutes were spent criss-crossing the once swollen Mukamuka Stream. Why it was called a stream, escaped me. It was probably 100 metres wide at its widest point. The valley walls continued to dwarf our group as we wandered up the valley. It was deserted but for a lone paradise duck screaming abuse at Woody as he approached. A pair of wind-blown sheep huddled behind an unsuspecting bush to our right. The wind whistled past.
Nothing worth noting occurred. We walked and walked and walked. Graeme stopped briefly to change into his shorts, then promptly fell into the stream to christen them. The duck got bored and went away to annoy the sheep. The sheep got annoyed and wandered off to find another unsuspecting bush to hide-behind.
Lunch was great. The sun shone brightly and we ate. And we ate. And we ate. While Woody surveyed his fine cuisine of cheeses and pates, some of us partook of a more intellectual and endearing pursuit; ie. "The Great Stone Throwing Competition", This was to be the grounding for the rest of the weekend.
Having finished lunch, we tumed our attention to the "daunting’ valley which narrowed before us. Unbeknown to US.....eee many daring adventures lay ahead. As we traversed across stream and boulder, our personal hygiene was challenged. First and foremost, Sid decided it was time to test his river crossing skills. With perfect grace and calculated ability, he straddled the fast moving stream only to be beaten by an inconspicuous brown rock which lay lurking beneath the surface of the stream. Seconds later it was all over. Sid, slightly bruised and embarrassed was seen clambering out of'a particularly uninviting rock pool. Did he have an accident, did he fall in or was he pushed? Will we ever know?
Ever been on one of those trips where someone wanders off? We have! Woody “the wanderer" as he should be known, created a legend for himself, The awful truth suddenly dawned on us and a terrifying chill ran through all our bodies as Bruce shouted, "My God, Woody's been missing for 24 minutes!" and we tried to stay calm as we gathered our senses. Sue thought out loud, "How am I going to tell Lyndsay that I lost a club member?* We rallied together and decided to continue the climb to the top of the saddle and worry about it later. However, upon aniving, there was Woody waiting in the “windy walley*.
Being the athletic trampers we were, we ran down the other side into the Orongorongo Valley, where we set up camp for the night (across another track). Graeme and Gretchen meandered down behind, arriving in time for supper.
As evening tured into night, the valley was alive with scratchings and the preparation of another historic WT&MC feast. By 8pm everyone was eating. Sweet & Sour Pork with a killingly hot sauce - a Sue special. Unlike some of her other dishes, this one has a "Government Health Warming". Dessert followed. Lashings of cream, marshmallows and chocolate chippies were downed in a mixture of instant pud (better than any chocolate gateau one could imagine!) As coffee and tea was served, the valley was quiet, save for the sounds of a distant rumbling. SUDDENLY everyone was alert! The birds stopped singing, the river came to a halt...... was it an earthquake, a wild animal or something far more devastating? Helen screamed! The trampers slowly looked around, hardly daring to draw a breath. After a quick search of the campsite, the source of the noise was found. Graeme was ASLEEP. The delights of his slumber were audibly obvious. Other delights were obvious as well. Sue and Woody exchanged massages to relieve their tramping aches and pains. "Oh, oh, oh that's great, oh, oh, a bit to the left, aammhhhh, that's good. Oooohhh Woody!"
The night was long and cool. A little rain passed over in the early hours. Wayne verified this by washing his head in the most natural way; he forgot to put his head under the fly. Liz had a small run-in with a baby ‘possum. There was an ensuing tug of war between them over who was going to keep the contents of a plastic food bag. The ‘possum lost and went off in search of left-over instant pudding.
Morning dawned, again. Most of the rain had gone. The sun eventually appeared and lit the campsite, highlighting the idyllic setting we had missed the night before. It wasn't until just after 10am when the Easy's set off on their merry way. The river valley was quiet. The wander down the river was uneventful except for Bruce's (I can jump rivers) attempts to run across the river without getting his feet wet. Wayne decided that this was a good scheme and tried it out too. It failed for both, as usual. By the time the overbridge appeared, there wasn't a dry foot anywhere. Helen showed her talents by creating a wonderful flower arrangement in the top of Sue's snowfoam.
It didn't take long to arrive at our proposed lunch spot, the river end of the 5 Mile Track. Here we sat and ate, yet again. Sue pulled a CB radio from her pack and proceeded to call the Mediums. This had been tried several times over the past 24 hours and had been surprisingly successful. “Uncle John, Uncle John, this is Auntie Sue here, have you got the radio on?" said Sue....... There was no answer. Then in a twinkling of an eye, the Mediums appeared around the corner.
Lunch was far from quiet. As one would expect for this location, there was many a day tripper on their way into Our nice, quiet valley. Realising the traffic jam accumulating on the track, several of our group decided to head for civilisation to avoid the queues. We made it back in a.record time of 49 minutes 6 seconds (for Easy's anyway).
The MV Duchess arrived on time. Great Aunt ilse was there, with the other crew to meet us. She wore a lovely white 1920 style hat complete with red paper flower clinging to the band. By 4pm we were safely back in Wellington, preparing ourselves mentally for another week at work. And so ended another successful trip.
THE EASY'S : Auntie Sue (Leader), Graeme, Gretchen, Woody (The Wanderer), Wayne, Liz (Writer), Bruce (Co-Writer), Helen (Giggles), and Sid (Rock-steady).